Kehinde Fajobi
The Northern Senators Forum has called on the federal government to urgently restore electricity supply to states in the North, including Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, and Jigawa.
They also urged the government to prioritise repairs on the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines, aiming to stabilise power in the region.
In a communiqué signed by the forum’s chairman, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’adua, following a recent meeting in Abuja, the forum highlighted the economic and social impacts of ongoing outages.
“The ongoing outages, resulting from vandalism and national grid disturbances, have brought economic hardship, compromised healthcare delivery, and imposed expensive fuel costs on citizens,” Yar’adua stated.
He emphasised that the situation has left small businesses struggling, hospitals bearing increased costs, and livelihoods severely disrupted.
Parts of the North have faced blackout issues after a fault at the 330kV DC Transmission Line caused widespread outages across the North-East, North-West, and parts of the North-Central.
This fault disrupted electricity backup to areas serviced by Kaduna Electric, Jos Electricity Distribution Company, and Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO).
The senators urged the federal government to secure power infrastructure in the North against vandalism and to support renewable energy and mini-grid solutions.
“Support renewable energy. Back KEDCO’s initiatives for renewable energy and mini-grid solutions to provide sustainable power options,” the communiqué read.
They acknowledged recent improvements in power distribution but stressed the need for immediate action.
“The Northern Senators Forum respectfully requests the federal government to expedite and prioritise repairs on the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines to restore reliable power supply,” it concluded, calling for urgent measures to alleviate hardships and bolster economic activities across the northern states.